Clinton Foundation paid Blumenthal $10K per month while he advised on Libya

[Sgt Preston]

Source: Politico

Sidney Blumenthal, a longtime confidant of Bill and Hillary Clinton, earned about $10,000 a month as a full-time employee of the Clinton Foundation while he was providing unsolicited intelligence on Libya to then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to multiple sources familiar with the arrangement.

Blumenthal was added to the payroll of the Clintons’ global philanthropy in 2009 — not long after advising Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign — at the behest of former president Bill Clinton, for whom he had worked in the White House, say the sources.

While Blumenthal’s foundation job focused on highlighting the legacy of Clinton’s presidency, some officials at the charity questioned his value and grumbled that his hiring was a favor from the Clintons, according to people familiar with the foundation. They say that, during a 2013 reform push, Blumenthal was moved to a consulting contract that came with a similar pay rate but without benefits — an arrangement that endured until March.

A Clinton loyalist who first earned the family’s trust as an aggressive combatant in the political battles of the 1990s, Blumenthal continues to work as a paid consultant to two groups supporting Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign — American Bridge and Media Matters — both of which are run by David Brock, a close ally of both Clinton and Blumenthal.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/clinton-foundation-sidney-blumenthal-salary-libya-118359.html#ixzz3bRToB2rZ



Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/clinton-foundation-sidney-blumenthal-salary-libya-118359.html

[Fred Sanders]

1. So....the point is...something, something? This is outrageous! Because.....something, something.

The faux Clinton scandal du jour....they are really milking this one.

The whole thing is getting surreal, the desperation of the mass media to get a horse race going, in order to benefit their own Media Cash, is approaching permanent hilarity.

Meanwhile the Koch's are hiring politicians and political operatives by the thousands, NOW, to suppress the vote and buy democracy......fucking media.

[Sgt Preston]

4. Haven't you been following this story?

Clicquez ici:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/22/us/politics/first-batch-of-hillary-clinton-emails-captures-concerns-over-libya.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

[Fred Sanders]

6. New poster, it is not a story, sir, it is propaganda , unproven, inconsequential, and you are spreading it...poorly.

How about those Koch's buying politicians? You like that?

[Sgt Preston]

12. :) The NYT?

Comments like yours are the last resort of someone who can't defend his position/candidate.

[leftofcool]

15. And where do you think the NYT gets its info?

Bullshit right wing resources. Check it out.

[leftofcool]

2. OMG! The Clinton Foundation hires people to do stuff?

[NCjack]

14. Simply shocking! HRC seeks advice because she doesn't know

everything in the world and could benefit from deep analyses by experts. Why can't she be like GOPers -- just commit to an opinion and freeze her brain? I would rather see her spend money on her education instead of cigar-and-whiskey parties in a back room at a country club.

[Adrahil]

3. Okay. So? n/t

[Man from Pickens]

5. just more seedy behavior

which we would expect nor tolerate from ANY other candidate.

I can only imagine what Gary Hart thinks about all this.

[Jazzgirl]

18. Why are you here?

Please explain.

[Man from Pickens]

23. In part

because I'm sick of Wall Street candidates reducing the country to Victorian-era poverty.

When Wall Street wants a candidate as bad as they want HRC, that sets off alarm bells for me - as it should for any other Democrat. I really don't understand how people can ignore that elephant in the room.

[LittleGirl]

26. yep and thank you for saying that. eom

[OneCrazyDiamond]

7. Wow 10k a month is good money from a charity. eom

[NYC_SKP]

9. It's more than a charity.

It's a clever way to sell influence without breaking any actual laws.

At least it has that appearance.

[m-lekktor]

16. exactly. nt

[workinclasszero]

28. Any proof of laws being broken?

No of course not but the koch bros appreciate the hell out of you Bernie fans spreading their smear job HS on Hillary!

[NYC_SKP]

29. It's a clever way to sell influence without breaking any actual laws.

Did you read the words that I wrote?

[workinclasszero]

31. Right, no laws being broken

So just smear away on a witch hunt, I get that loud and clear.

Like I said the entire right wing and the koch bros are deeply appreciative of Bernie fans efforts on their behalf!

I mean hey, it appears to me that Bernie fans are in league with the republican party in their attacks on Hillary.

Am I wrong or right??

[Fournier]

36. "I didn't do anything illegal"

Great campaign slogan!

[OneCrazyDiamond]

39. Didn't Nixon copyright that slogan?

[DURHAM D]

8. I didn't open the link so can you just tell me...

When did he stop beating his wife?

[workinclasszero]

10. BFD

Is this supposed to be bad or something? Nothing at all illegal, right?

Koch bros buying up the country, no news there but the Clinton's paying someone for his work? GASP! Big scandal!

Well I heard this smear first first on DU, Rush and Hannity will probably be mouthing the same BS today.

Good job DU?

[Sgt Preston]

11. Sid Blumenthal also got paid by businessmen with interests in Libya

The substance of Blumenthal’s memos, though, isn’t as noteworthy as the fact that Blumenthal was working with people trying to do business within Libya when he sent them, and not laboring as a bona fide public official at Foggy Bottom.

“Much of the Libya intelligence that Mr. Blumenthal passed on to Mrs. Clinton appears to have come from a group of business associates he was advising as they sought to win contracts from the Libyan transitional government,” a later Times report noted. “The venture, which was ultimately unsuccessful, involved other Clinton friends, a private military contractor and one former C.I.A. spy seeking to get in on the ground floor of the new Libyan economy.”

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/05/the-problem-with-hillarys-friends/393635/

[blm]

35. And somehow you have convinced yourself this is unusual? Never been around

influential movers and shakers in business, or in government, or even high-profile charitable foundations a day in your life, eh?

[cosmicone]

13. Clintons also hired a gardener

who previously worked to water roses at their campaign headquarters but after the campaign ended he was absorbed to water plants at the Clinton Foundation HQ.

While watering plants, the gardener also gave advice on colors of drapes and better ways to arrange a sofa.

It has been learned that while working for the foundation, the gardener ate two left-over sandwiches after adjournment of a meeting and was also found to take a swig from a bottle of sherry.

Witnesses have seen the gardener talking over his cell phone while at work at the foundation and since he was seen on a balcony, the contents of his conversation remain suspicious.

The gardener could not be reached for comment.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh man -- this stinks! This is such sleazy behavior on the part of Clintons! It will surely sink her campaign!

[FlatBaroque]

22. Misplaced sarcasm emoticon

By conducting a series of Friday afternoon dumps I'm sure the sleaze will be all washed off by the time of the general election campaign and Republicans will have nothing with which to attack her. <Inserting proper emoticon>

[cosmicone]

27. There is no evidence of sleaze and your post is uncalled for

New poster, she is a democrat and her family has served this country well. You may disagree with her on policy but be careful about casting unproven aspersions.

[Stallion]

32. Headline: Seedy Gardners With Plants Inside Clinton Compound!!!!!

Its amazing alleged "Democrats" can't see through this crap

[earthside]

17. In the old days it was called a 'slush fund'.

It is corrupt and sleazy.

The Clinton Foundation is a political scandal that will at the least be a water torture eroding the Clinton candidacy, or it could explode.

I'm sorry about this, I worked hard for Bill Clinton in two presidential campaigns; but this wallowing in the pool of millionaires, billionaires and elitists is just too much for me. The Clinton family fell in love with mega-money and mega-influence peddling and Hillary Clinton is disqualified as far as I am concerned from being a Democratic party nominee for President.

[AgingAmerican]

19. Is that abnormal?

To pay employees?

[Sancho]

20. Good use of dollars paid to an intelligent and useful consultant.

[Beauregard]

21. "Insidious Sid"

The point is not that Blumenthal is a hypocrite (although he seems to be exactly that). The point is that throughout this book Blumenthal seems utterly incapable of understanding how his own uncompromising, take-no-prisoners defense of the Clintons contributed to the poisonous political atmosphere that he bemoans. Time and again, in the book as in life, he rearranges facts, spins conspiracy theories, impugns motives, and besmirches the character of his political and journalistic foes—all for the greater cause of defending the Clintons (and himself). Hyde, Kenneth Starr, Hickman Ewing, Lindsey Graham, Tom DeLay—each was malicious, narrow-minded, bigoted, buffoonish, and anti-democratic. Meanwhile, Blumenthal wonders repeatedly why so many people dislike him. At one point, bizarrely, he suggests it is because he is "intellectual" and "Jewish."

Michael Isikoff
Slate

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2003/05/insidious_sid.html

[Sancho]

30. So you're suggesting the Clinton's gave Sid a job to get him out of the way...smart!

I guess working for the foundation is hard to criticize, and it also provide access if you need him. Sort of the rehabilitation theory?

[Boomerproud]

41. I'm no fan of Blumenthal (I rank him with Lanny Davis as a worthless "defender" of the Clinton's)

but quoting Isikoff backfires-unless you were trying to prove the opposite point.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

24. Was he supposed to work for free?

[hedgehog]

25. The real problem came when Clinton kept the info to herself and used it

to set policy rather than using State Department resources and sharing it with the White House. And, if IIRC, the info was wrong.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/19/us/politics/clinton-friends-libya-role-blurs-lines-of-politics-and-business.html

[blm]

33. Where's the THERE? This is not unusual in the least. Corpmedia: Only Bushes are allowed

close friends and confidantes in their inner circle because they all evolved from Poppy Bush, and no one dare cross Poppy Bush, eh mediawhores?

[stonecutter357]

34. .

[red dog 1]

37. Not one MSM source for this?

Last edited Thu May 28, 2015, 01:56 PM - Edit history (1)

The story is being covered (so far) only by right-wing conservative news sources

Besides Politico:

Breitbart News
libertyblitzkrieg.com
memorandum.com
hotair.com
newsmax.com
republicbuzz.com
billoreilly.com
sweetness-light.com

No HuffPo?
No NY Times?
No WaPo?

I wonder why that is?
(I'm not being sarcastic here)

[NorthCarolina]

38. Gotta admit,

it sure beats working at Walmart for $7.25 an hour.

[quadrature]

40. 501 (c) (3) ... how was Blum's work 'charitable' ...nt

[Trajan]

42. Bernie supporter here ...

This is a hit piece, unworthy of the consideration of good Democrats ...

The ultimate refutation > So fucking what .....